Tag: law and order

On 5/7/2010 there was Bharat Bandh. Parties belonging to Left Front, NDA and some others had called for bandh. The bandh was in protest against rise in prices of petrol, diesel, kerosene and LPG. Many leaders courted arrest. Buses were damaged.

The bandh was supposed to be for the common man of India. Bandhs disrupt life and do not benefit common man. There is loss of dayâ€™s work. People who had to travel long distance by bus, car, train or plane suffer. Some book tickets months in advance. Many people do not get medical attention and sometimes people die.

Parties should protest differently. They can go on an indefinite fast or one day fast. They can demonstrate in front of secretariats or ministersâ€™ houses. Bandhs are not the way to protest.

Bandhs are bad when opposition parties call for them. They are worse when state governments enforce them. They fail in their duty and act unconstitutionally.

Parties claim they get support from people. Shopkeepers shut shops because there will be stone throwing.

Some years back Bombay High Court fined two parties 20 lakh rupees each for Maharashtra Bandh. It is time somebody moves Supreme Court for fining parties for Bharat Bandh and the fine should be in crores.

Corporal punishment to students has become a controversial subject. There have been instances of excessive beating by teachers, causing injury and sometimes death. TV channels reported it for a day, some discussed it for a few minutes and everything was forgotten. A boy from La Martiniere in Calcutta died in February. After three and half months the death became controversial.

The boy was beaten on 8/2/2010. For the next three days he did not attend the school. On 12/2/2010 he attended the school. That day he was not beaten. He was told to bring his parents. The principal claimed there was no connection between beating and death. Alumni of La Martiniere came in defence of the school. If TV channels expected widespread condemnation of corporal punishment or the teachers or principal of La Martiniere they were disappointed.

Corporal punishment of students was banned in many states years back but it continues. Sometimes parents tell teachers to beat their children if they do not study or misbehave. Indian Penal Code allows it. Some want change in the Indian Penal Code.

Some have come in defence of corporal punishment. Some oppose corporal punishment. They say there should be counselling. What happens when counselling fails? The student has to be expelled from the school.

On 7/6/2010 CJM Mohan P. Tiwari delivered judgment in Bhopal gas leak case. All the accused were sentenced to two years imprisonment and were released on bail.
Many say justice is not done. The gas leak happened in December 1984. CBI filed the chargesheet in 1987. In 1996 the Supreme Court reduced the culpable homicide not amounting to murder charge to death due to negligence charge for which maximum punishment is two years imprisonment.
Two years imprisonment for 20,000 deaths? That is what many people ask. The exact number of dead is not known. In 1984 the number was said to be 50,000. The gas leak affected many people, one figure puts it at 5,00,000. There was environmental damage.
The Supreme Court had worked out a settlement, some call it an out of court settlement, and Union Carbide had paid 470 million dollars towards compensation. Many say the damage was not fully known.
CBI is blamed by some. CBI is it could not have done more.
Indian law needs to change. Punishment has to be consecutive. If punishment for one death due to negligence is two years imprisonment for 20,000 deaths it has to be 40,000 years imprisonment.
Link to e-book King â€“ a novel: http://go4quiz.com/vincent/king
Link to e-book Pope â€“ a novel: http://go4quiz.com/vincent/pope

About Vincent Augustine D’Souza

Vincent Augustine D'Souza is a blogger, author, novelist and quiz master. His quiz site is Go 4 Quiz. He is known as walking encyclopedia. His novels KING and POPE are available in ebook format. Currently he is working on his English Konkani Dictionary.

Archives

KING - A novel by Vincent Augustine D'Souza that shows some contemporary views as wrong. It shows a way to an ideal world.

Excerpts from the King
Chapter 33 - Horse Flu
November was coming to an end. Horses started having flu. Horse flu spread to people. On 1st December one person in Peking died of horse flu.
Next day one person in Canton and one person in Peking died of horse flu.
Third day one person each in Hong Kong, Bangkok, Canton and Peking died of horse flu. Flood in Istanbul.
On 4th December one person each in Saigon, Tokyo, Dacca, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Canton and Peking died of horse flu. Horse flu kept spreading to other parts of the world. Read More...